Drain plunger



Aug 30, 1938. o. AND1-:weon 2,128,217

DRAIN PLUNGER Filed June 25, 1937 Patented Aug. 30, 1938 UNiTED SintesPATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

' This invention relates in general to a drain plunger and moreparticularly to a plunger device for clearing clogged drain pipes ofsinks and the like. -An important object of the invention is to providesuch a device which will operate more eiectively than similar devicesprovided heretofore and which lis adapted for manipulation in high orlow positions. *Another important object of the invention is to providea positive tWo way seal for such a device whereby the plunger ispositively sealed during operation on compression and suction strokes.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent as the invention isbetter understood from the following description, which, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

AReferring to the drawing:

Figure l is an elevational view illustrating a device embodying myinvention, broken away in parts to show details of construction, and;

Fig. 2 is l an enlarged Sectional detail view taken substantially online 2-2 in Figure l and illustrating my new sealing means in action.

To illustrate my invention I have shown a relatively strong cylinder 5and piston 6, a sealing means orring l'attached to one end of thecylinder 5, an operating stem or rod 8 extending from'the piston B, andend handle 9, an intermediately disposed sleeve type hand hold I0, and aspring I2.

The cylinder 5 is or may be formed of sheet metal such as sheet ironwhich is die formed or spun to provide a cylinder of suitable length anddiameter having an end wall 2l at one end only which is apertured as at22 to receive the stem or rod 8.

The piston 6 may be any suitable plug arranged for attachment to thestem 8 and for movement in sea-ling engagement with the interior wall ofthe cylinder 5 and in the present embodiment I have shown the piston 6formed of a die casting 45 and including a disklike body 23 having arelatively free l'lt in the cylinder 5 and a laterally extending hub 24.The periphery of the body 23 is grooved in spaced relationship toreceive piston rings 25 of any suitable material. The piston 50 rings 25may be formed of brass or a similar antifriction metal so that they willnot dry out while the device is not in constant use.

An end 26 of the rod or stem 8 is reduced in diameter for a drive i'ltinto a suitable bore formed 55 in the piston 6 as illustrated and may beriveted over upon assembly so that the piston kwill be rigidly securedto the stem and the opposite end 2l of the stem 8 is knurled and castintegral with the end handle 9. To facilitate this type of connectionbetween the stem 8 and the handle 5 9 the latter is die cast and Whilethe form oi' the handle 9 may be varied in accordance with particularrequirements I have shown a cross bar type of handle having an axisdisposed at right angles to the axis of the stem 8 and adapted to begrasped by the hand of an operator with the stem 8 extending between twofingers.

In accordance with one of the objects of this invention and tofacilitate operation of the drain plunger in high or inconvenientlpositions the hand hold l0 is provided. This hand hold may be formed of`a die casting of suitable length and diameter having a beaded orotherwise irregularly formed exterior surface which may be grasped bythe hand O-f an Operator and upon which the hand even though wet willnot readily slip while pressure is being applied to the plunger.

The handle lil is apertured to receive the stem 8 and is positionedthereon as indicated prior to the assembly of the stern il` and piston 6and secured thereto by means of a suitable pin 28.

A cavity or spring socket 29 is formed in an end of the handle I0 forreceiving the compression spring l2 as shown.

The compression spring I2 is positioned be- 30 tween the handle l@ andthe end wall 2| of the cylinder 5 and is provided to normally hold thepiston 5 in retracted position as shown and operation of the device isimproved or balanced by a relatively heavy spring Which will absorb someenergy on a down stroke of the piston 6 and release that energy to atleast assist on the succeeding up stroke thereof.

In accordance with another object of this invention an effective two waysealing means is l provided whereby the cylinder 5 may be eifectivelysealed against a Surface 3l as illustrated' in Fig. 2 by pressureapplied to the plunger and vacuum in operation and to accomplish this Ihave shown the sealing ring 1 formed in accordance with my invention.The ring 1 is an annulus formed of a relatively soft elastic materialhaving a relatively deep annular groove 32 formed therein for receivingan Open end portion 33 of the cylinder and a plurality of annular andconcentrically disposed depending webs formed integral therewithincluding an inner webl 34, an outer web 35 and an intermediatelydisposed web 3B.

The inner web 34 and the outer web 35 are spaced laterally from theannular groove 32 so that when pressure is applied to the webs 34 and 35the side wall portions 31 and 38 of the sealing ring l will be pressedtightly against the cylinder walls to improve the seal between the ringand the inner and the outer Walls of the cylinder.

The inner faces of. the webs 34 and 35 are tapered upwardly and inwardlyfrom a relatively thin extremity so that when the sealing ring ispressed against a surface such as the surface 3l the webs will normallyspread outwardly as illustrated in Fig. 2 when the web Bil willeffectively seal against internal pressure on the down-stroke of thepiston 6 and the web 35 will similarly effectively seal against externalpressure applied as an incident to an up-stroke of the piston. The sealeffected being of the iiap valve type in which the applied pressureimproves the seal by pressing the webs 34 and 35 against the surface 3lin proportion to the applied pressure.

The intermediate web 36 is provided as an auxiliary sealing means andmay by bending toward one side or the other compensate for damage to theweb 34 or the web 35 or for imperfect sealing of either one thereofwhich may be due to surface irregularities or particles of matterinterfering with proper operation thereof.

The plunger may be positioned over the opening of a clogged drain pipein a sink or the like and pressed rmly against the surface of the sinkwhen forceful operation of the piston 6 both upwardly and downwardlywill clear the clogged drain.

The opening 22 in the wall 2l of. the cylinder 5 is of ample size toprovide a vent through which air back of the piston 6 may be vented andlikewise taken in during the down-stroke of the piston.

Due to the rigidity of the cylinder 5 and piston 6 and to the eiciencyof the sealing means a powerful pressure or suction may be applied todislodge the materials in clogged drain pipes.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. The combination with a drain plunger of the open ended metal cylindertype, of sealing means for sealing the open end thereof against asurface disposed about a drain opening, said sealing means comprising anannulus of elastic material having a mean diameter substantially equalto that of the open end of said cylinder and bein-g adapted for sealingengagement therewith, said annulus having a plurality of relatively thinsealing webs dependent therefrom and being adapted to spread apart onand to seal against a fiat surface upon the application of pressurethereto through said cylinder.

2. The combination with a drain plunger o1' the open ended metalcylinder type, of sealing means for sealing the openvend thereof againsta surface disposed about a drain opening, said sealing means comprisingan annulus of elastic material having a mean diameter substantiallyequal to that of the open end of said cylinder and being adapted forsealing engagement therewith, said annulus having a plurality ofconcentrically disposed relatively thin and long sealing webs formedintegral therewith and extending from said cylinder for sealingengagement with a relatively flat surface upon the application ofpressure through said cylinder.

3. The combination with a drain plunger of the open ended metal cylindertype, of, sealing means for sealing the open end thereof against asurface disposed about a drain opening, said sealing means comprising anannulus of elastic material having an annular groove therein forreceiving the open end of said cylinder and having an inner and an outersealing web extending therefrom for engaging a relatively flat surface,said annular groove being adapted to form a sealed connection with saidcylinder and said sealing webs being adapted to spread apart against arelatively flat surface to form a seal against internal and externalpressure during operation.

l. A drain plunger comprising a cylinder adapted for sealing engagementwith a relatively flat surface disposed about a drain opening, a pistonin said cylinder, and means for actuating said piston including anoperating stem attached tosaid piston and having an end handle, ahelical spring mounted on said stem for normally retracting said piston,and an intermediately located sleeve providing a hand hold whereby thepiston may be actuated.

5. A drain plunger comprising a cylinder adapted for sealing engagementwith a relatively flat surface disposed about a drain opening, a pistonin said cylinder, and means for actuating said piston including anoperating stem attached to said piston and having an end handle castintegral therewith, a helical spring for normally retracting the piston,and an intermediately located hand hold device mounted on said stem andhaving a socket therein for receiving an end of the helical spring.

6. A drain plunger comprising a cylinder adapted for sealing engagementwith a relatively nat surface disposed about a drain. opening, a pistonin said cylinder, means including a stem connected to said cylinder andan operating handle thereon for actuating said cylinder, and a helicalspring for normally retracting said piston and being arranged on saidstem between said cylinder and the operating handle.

OLOF ANDERSON.

